REVIEW: A Ladder to the Sky by John Boyne

Genre: Fiction, Contemporary


Publisher: DoubleDay Canada

ISBN: 0385692919

Format: Hardback, Paperback, E-Book,
Audio-Book

Release Date: 13th November 2018


Links: Goodreads, Amazon.com, Indigo,
B&N, Book Depository


Rating: 8/10


Synopsis:

If you look hard enough, you can find stories pretty much anywhere. They don't even have to be your own. Or so would-be writer Maurice Swift decides very early on in his career. A chance encounter in a West Berlin hotel with celebrated novelist Erich Ackermann gives him an opportunity to ingratiate himself with someone more powerful. For Erich is lonely, and he has a story to tell. Whether or not he should do so is another matter.

Once Maurice has made his name, he sets off in pursuit of other people's stories. He doesn't care where he finds them--or to whom they belong--as long as they help him rise to the top. Stories will make him famous but they will also make him beg, borrow and steal. They may even make him do worse.

A psychological drama of cat and mouse, A Ladder to the Sky shows how easy it is to achieve the world if you are prepared to sacrifice your soul.

Review:



**Thanks to Penguin Random House Canada for sending me a copy in
return for my honest review**

This book was extraordinary. The mixture of fantastically interesting characters, beautiful settings and wonderful dialogue has created a book that I never wanted to end.

Maurice wants to be a writer. He's willing to go at almost any length to become an author worthy of a prize- but he struggles to come up with an idea creative enough that could win the prize that he longs for.

The characters in this novel are fantastically developed. Maurice is a calculating character, using other people's stories to create his own and path his way to fame. The people he meets are used until there is nothing left and Maurice moves on to the next.

The novel goes into great detail about his journey 'up the ladder' and how just a small taste of fame has him hooked. I was completely hooked with Maurice's character. He is a character that you can't help but despise and yet he was completely captivating.

Although the main focus of the novel is Maurice, it also focuses on some of the characters around him. Erich and Dash both came to realize that they were being used and yet they both continued to allow it. I also really enjoyed the characters that saw through what Maurice was doing and called him out for it. Of course, there were various characters that didn't see through what Maurice was doing until it was too late.

The novel is told in three parts and by three different narrators with some interludes woven in. It dives into the difficulties authors face as well as the publishing industry as a whole. It dives into betrayel, and how a person's obsession can lead to their downfall.

John Boyne throws in twists and turns that I never saw coming. The pace of the novel is fantastic with an intriguing and gripping plot. He is a fantastic writer and has created a story that had me completely hooked.